Why does Wal-Mart struggle to open stores in America’s largest cities?
In an April 2006 speech in Chicago, former CEO and current Wal-Mart board member Lee Scott declared that his company wanted to be an “urban pioneer” and that Wal-Mart “has never been afraid to invest in communities that are overlooked by other retailers.” [Chicago Tribune, 5/8/08] Yet for years, Wal-Mart has tried and failed to build stores in Chicago, New York and central Los Angeles – as well as Detroit, Washington, DC, and Boston. Building stores in these great urban centers represents one of the last few rich avenues for domestic U.S growth open to Wal-Mart – and possibly the company’s greatest challenge. Together, the populations of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles alone are almost 15 million people, or nearly 5% of the U.S. population.
